Piracy of designs...

I've seen discussion of the ethics of this before, and really don't want to start that. I think if you profiteer out of something that isn't yours whilst claiming it is indeed one of yours, then you're a petty individual who clearly has no talent of their own and thus deserves my sympathy rather than my vitriol. But of course, people are free to disagree..

But I must point out... if you see one of my embroidered red satin bustiers on sale for anything more than $50 and fancy one, best get down to Tawhaki 200,200 coz that's where my vendor is.

I'm singularly pissed off, it's the first time I've seen anyone wearing one of my designs, and then I discover they didn't even buy it off me! That bustier is, I think, in the top three of all the things I've ever made, even with the 'wonky bits' .

You really have to be careful. Some people in SL have no ethics. Recently a well known mall owner in SL gave me free copies of all sorts of clothes she had. She told me they were all bugged or pre this version or that one and so she felt since she could give them away at will, she would. Funny thing is, many of the designers she rips off sell in her mall unaware what is happening. I felt bad about the situation and no longer wear the clothes I was given and have since chosen to shop those designers more frequently. Word to the wise, Don't let your perms get away from you.

Was it something you'd made or something someone copied the design of?

Just to clarify further... Did the person state they actually *bought* it from someone else? Or were they given the item? I've bought lots of clothes before and given them to friends as gifts. I know many, many others that do this as well. So I just want to make sure I understand.

Threads are dissapearing left and right. This one's gonna be next.

Hmmm, I kind of doubt it because it doesn't name names.

I have sold so much stuff in SL over the past eight to nine months I've been in business, I wouldn't have the first clue whether or not anything of mine that I see in-world was bought from me or not. I also leave all my perms as no copy-mod-transfer, so customers are free to re-sell anything. I've toyed with the idea of making stuff copy-mod-no transfer, but that carries with it its own problems. It's hard to decide which way to go.

Of course, if you want to make sure that people don't re-sell your clothes for a higher price than you sold it for, do set the perms to no transfer.

I can certainly understand your distress at the "piracy," but your definition of the word is a little unclear as Dan and Pendari pointed out.
How did you know the design was yours? or is it that unique?
Did someone else copy your design?
Did the person over pay for it or was it a gift?

What is the communities stance on knock-offs?

I've only just begun designing clothes and things so, many times I will look at a piece of clothing and try to replicate it just to see if I can. If I succeed then I'm very proud of that fact because it means my photoshop skills are growing.

But recently a friend who is not into the 'whole design thing' asked me to replicate an outfit from a different online game. Now certainly I won't be charging this friend but if others also want this piece of nostalgia from another game is that piracy? Even if i'm not using the games logos or trademarked material?

This issue has been debated quite a bit, but it's still hard to pin down what's acceptable. I think it has been determined, though, that nobody can copyright a clothing "style" or "look." So if you can use your own artwork and/or pictures to recreate a particular costume from another series, you are probably safe.

Thanks Beryl!

Just to clarify, the bustier in question was definitely one of mine, and the wearer claimed to have bought it that very morning.

Nevermind.

It has been pointed out to me that many of the items in my vendor claim to have been made by 'nobody' although I show as the owner. When the objects are rezzed in world they say I am the creator, but when they are in the vendor they say 'nobody'.

Luckily the item in question says I created it

Since 1.4 several items have been showing as nobody as the creator especially in the vendor. The box will but once it comes out the item(s) inside still have the creators name.

Several times in just the last few days my clothes have appeared for resale at double the price..

Please if you see a blue cloud textured box with a eagle over a sunset emblem and Titan Eagle Outfitters on it look to see that Tipsy Titan owns it cause if not your probably paying way to much.

Thanks

a question, directed at everyone-
so say in this instance you find out *exactly* who is responsible for actions like this, and abuse report them. is that something the lindens can be expected to take action on, or will they ignore the problem?

having a similar issue myself, curious if it's even worth it to report it. chances are i will report anyway, just want to know what to expect in the way of a response from those who have dealt with similar issues.

I just dealt with this the other day Nephaline.......

Someone else selling your things isn't really a violation of the TOS from what I understand. Sure, it's rude and unethical, but it's not against the rules. They put their investment into the item, and I guess they can do with it what they choose. Basically, you can file abuse, but chances are, nothing is going to happen.

Now, if someone copied a design of yours (meaning remade it themselves from a photo or whatever), it's kind of a different issue since it's in violation of intellectual property rights. In this case you can report abuse and contact Colin Linden I think, and he will put you in contact with the person in question. But after that, it's up to you to handle the situation....LL will not mediate.

In short, I would definately take the time to file abuse on the person, but don't expect anything to come from it.....try to talk to the person yourself, I'm sure you'll get further this way.

Had very simlar things happen to me recently.

So far nothing will be done about it as with all the changes and such and not having a good set of permissions sets to controll this.
The truth is no matter what we do "Owning" our own designs means at least our name is on it thats about it right now.

Shadow

Actually from a standpoint of i have seen several items that are identical to mine inworld and mine have been out longer.

But..if the pictures are off the net it is free game and it happens even if i brought it into world first..so i gathered anyways.

If this is not true then can we get a linden to clarify.

That definitely happens Tipsy. I've ended up making the same item as other people once or twice. I don't mind. When another designer and I noticed that it had happened the first time we both laughed. Anything sourced off the web is likely to be duplicated at some point. I have no problem with that. May the cleanest seams win

Duplicating someone's purely original design is another story though.

Well said, Chip. I try to put a different spin on any bits of photos I use to make clothing, anyway, so it doesn't really look just like the original. There's no way in the world I could ever know what everybody is making, so this seems the safest way to ensure I won't have something that might look exactly like someone else's item.

I bug-reported an incident last week where I found that two clothing items I had just made from textures I'd created and uploaded showed up in my inventory as creator (nobody). This is a major pain in the neck.

Nephilaine, I've never dealt with anything like this, if anybody is re-selling stuff of mine or stealing it through permission bugs, I wouldn't have the faintest notion. But, if you do know that someone has done this to you, I would recommend reporting it. You might also talk to one of the Lindens about what would happen as a result, maybe Colin. For this to be perpetuated in SL hurts everybody who makes and sells textures, and it's just a crummy thing to do to someone who takes the time to make something for SL, only to have it ripped off.

understood, duplicates of items when photosourcing is being used happens. all things considered its a relatively small pool of reference out there.
my question was more along the lines of items already made, and acess to mod copy versions of them created by a bug.
i suppose another variant would be to ask, what happens when people are able to take advantage of these occasional bugs to gain acess to distributable copies of items. that kinda concerns me.
blah, pardon if i make no sense, jet lag

Ahh yes...hopefully people see that its creator is not the person selling it and report it to the original maker.

Which hopefully does happen but who knows in this day and age.